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Lot Essay
Cizhou wares are not specific to one kiln site. The term Cizhou is one of convenience used for a large group of widely varied ceramic wares made over a large area of Northern China. This ‘fish’ bowl, formerly in the world-renowned Ataka Collection, is one of the most universally recognized Cizhou vessels, and has been included in a number of important exhibitions and discussed extensively in literature.
The decoration of fish amongst aquatic plants was popular in Song paintings. Notable examples include a Northern Song handscroll, Luohua youyu tu, by Liu Ke, now in the Saint Louis Art Museum; a Southern Song album leaf attributed to Zhao Kexiong, now in the Metropolitan Museum of art; and a Southern Song handscroll, Yule tu (the Pleasure of Fishes) by Zhou Dongqin (fig. 1). This motif was inspired by a passage from the Daoist classic Zhuangzi, in which Zhuangzi strolling along a river, observes, “See how the small fish come out and dart around where they please! That’s what fish really enjoy!” His companion Huizi remarks, “You’re not a fish-how do you know what fish enjoy?” Zhuangzi replies, “You are not I, so how do you know I don’t know what fish enjoy?” On the present vessel the Cizhou potters’ free and skillful painting style brilliantly conveys the convincing impression of the flow of the water.
Bowls of similar shape to the current bowl have been excavated from the Guantai kilns in Cixian, Hebei province. According to archaeologists, deep bowls of the present shape belong to the late Phase II of the Guantai kiln, dating from the Jianzhongjingguo reign of Song Huizong to the Huangtong reign of Jin Xizong (1101-1149). The decoration on such bowls can be divided into three styles. Some of these were left plain white, such as the example illustrated in Archaeology Department of Peking University, Guantai Cizhou yaozhi, Beijing, 1997, col. pl. VI, no. 2. Some were decorated with linear sgraffiato designs incised through the slip to reveal the body beneath, ibid., col. pl. VI, no. 1, pl. XIII, no. 4. The majority of the deep bowls, both excavated and preserved in collections, however, are decorated with bold designs painted in black or dark brown slip, ibid., col. pl. VI, no. 3, pl. XIII, no. 3, pl. XIV, no. 1. A larger Cizhou ‘fish’ bowl of similar shape and decoration is in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, and illustrated in Song Ceramics, Tokyo, 1999, no. 105.
The decoration of fish amongst aquatic plants was popular in Song paintings. Notable examples include a Northern Song handscroll, Luohua youyu tu, by Liu Ke, now in the Saint Louis Art Museum; a Southern Song album leaf attributed to Zhao Kexiong, now in the Metropolitan Museum of art; and a Southern Song handscroll, Yule tu (the Pleasure of Fishes) by Zhou Dongqin (fig. 1). This motif was inspired by a passage from the Daoist classic Zhuangzi, in which Zhuangzi strolling along a river, observes, “See how the small fish come out and dart around where they please! That’s what fish really enjoy!” His companion Huizi remarks, “You’re not a fish-how do you know what fish enjoy?” Zhuangzi replies, “You are not I, so how do you know I don’t know what fish enjoy?” On the present vessel the Cizhou potters’ free and skillful painting style brilliantly conveys the convincing impression of the flow of the water.
Bowls of similar shape to the current bowl have been excavated from the Guantai kilns in Cixian, Hebei province. According to archaeologists, deep bowls of the present shape belong to the late Phase II of the Guantai kiln, dating from the Jianzhongjingguo reign of Song Huizong to the Huangtong reign of Jin Xizong (1101-1149). The decoration on such bowls can be divided into three styles. Some of these were left plain white, such as the example illustrated in Archaeology Department of Peking University, Guantai Cizhou yaozhi, Beijing, 1997, col. pl. VI, no. 2. Some were decorated with linear sgraffiato designs incised through the slip to reveal the body beneath, ibid., col. pl. VI, no. 1, pl. XIII, no. 4. The majority of the deep bowls, both excavated and preserved in collections, however, are decorated with bold designs painted in black or dark brown slip, ibid., col. pl. VI, no. 3, pl. XIII, no. 3, pl. XIV, no. 1. A larger Cizhou ‘fish’ bowl of similar shape and decoration is in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, and illustrated in Song Ceramics, Tokyo, 1999, no. 105.